The invention relates to the automated dispensing of a carbonated beverage into open containers.
The present invention arose during ongoing efforts by the inventor to improve carbonated beverage dispensing systems. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,363 entitled "Apparatus For Dispensing A Carbonated Beverage With Minimal Foaming", issuing on Feb. 18, 1997, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,732 issuing on Oct. 22, 1996, both incorporated herein by reference, the inventor discloses systems for dispensing carbonated beverage, such as beer or soda, into an open container. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. 5,603,363 discloses the bottom filling of carbonated beverage into an open container. U.S. Pat No. 5,566,732 discloses the use of a bar code reader to read indicia on the open container when placed beneath the nozzle that indicates the volume of the open container in order to automate the dispensing procedure, and preferably various aspects of on site accounting and inventory procedures. In these systems, the carbonated beverage is dispensed from a nozzle that has an outlet port placed near the bottom of the open container, i.e. the open container is bottom filled. In addition to bottom filling, these systems control the dispensing pressure of the carbonated beverage as well as its temperature in order to minimize foaming. In the above incorporated U.S. patents, the carbonated beverage is held in a vented chamber prior to dispensing in order to maintain the pressured atmospheric pressure. The carbonated beverage is cooled by circulating chilled air around the chamber.
In many circumstances, it is desirable to control the temperature of the carbonated beverage being dispensed more precisely. For example, beer manufacturers normally have selected optimum serving temperatures for the products.
As another example, consider carbonated soft drinks that are normally served on ice in open containers. Excessive foaming of soft drinks poured on ice is a recurring inefficiency throughout the food and beverage industry.
Carbonated soft drinks foam (sometimes excessively) while being dispensed onto ice in the serving container. As a consequence, personnel operating the dispenser must fill the serving container until the level of foam reaches the brim and then wait for the foam to settle before adding additional carbonated beverage. In some instances, several iterations of this process must occur before the container is filled with liquid to the proper serving level. "Topping Off" necessitated by the foaming of the beverage prolongs the dispensing operation and impedes the ability to fully automate the dispensing of carbonated beverages. Nevertheless, many establishments have push button activated taps which automatically dispense measured quantities of carbonated beverage into different sized containers, such as glasses, mugs and pitchers. However, this automated equipment only partially fills the serving container and the user must still manually "top off" the container after the foam from the automated step settles in order to dispense the proper serving quantity.